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Odyssey will arrive at Mars on October 24, 2001, 0230 Universal Time (October 23, 7:30pm PDT/ 10:30pm EDT).
As it nears its closest point to the planet over the northern hemisphere, the spacecraft will fire its 640-newton main engine for approximately 19.7 minutes to allow itself to be captured into an elliptical, or looping, orbit about 20 hours long. About three orbits after insertion, the spacecraft may fire its thrusters in what is called a period reduction maneuver if the initial orbit is larger than predicted.
(Tue Oct 23, 2001 - 9:32:38 am)